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13 Aug 06 - 10:49 PM (#1809224) Subject: Tom Paxton's lyrics From: GUEST,honest frankie Hello all, I found the lyrics online to tom Paxton's classic song "Last thing on My Mind" (the original -not the parody) and came across the line "in my mind each song line a'borning. Is a'borning even a word? |
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13 Aug 06 - 10:55 PM (#1809228) Subject: RE: Tom Paxton's lyrics From: Sorcha It's a rather standard contraction. |
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13 Aug 06 - 10:55 PM (#1809229) Subject: RE: Tom Paxton's lyrics From: Peace "As I lie in my bed in the mornin', Without you, without you. Every song in my breast dies a bornin', Without you, without you." In the context of the song the meaning is clear. Was it a word? Probably not. Is it now? You bet. |
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13 Aug 06 - 11:11 PM (#1809233) Subject: RE: Tom Paxton's lyrics From: Peace a·born·ing (-bôrnng) adv. While coming into being or being created: "Our own revolutionary war almost died aborning through lack of popular support" William Randolph Hearst, Jr. adj. Coming into being or being created. I sit corrected by the on-line dictionary. (The shame of it all . . . .) |
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14 Aug 06 - 01:57 AM (#1809283) Subject: RE: Tom Paxton's lyrics - dies a-bornin' From: Little Hawk A nice song. I got fed up with it after I heard it done for about the 587,000th time by the 536,000th performer. That can happen with some songs, unfortunately. |
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14 Aug 06 - 02:26 AM (#1809286) Subject: RE: Tom Paxton's lyrics - dies a-bornin' From: Big Al Whittle True enough, but two salient points:- 1) Many acoustic musicians have paid for the weeks groceries by playing that song, so many of us owe Tom Paxton one for that. 2) Even if Adolf Hitler had been the only one to use the words "a-bornin' " - I'd still say, he's TOM "----ING" PAXTON - don't criticise, watch and learn. |
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14 Aug 06 - 03:21 AM (#1809301) Subject: RE: Tom Paxton's lyrics - dies a-bornin' From: GUEST,Tunesmith I always wondered about that word. I've certainly never heard it outside the lyrics of that song. |
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14 Aug 06 - 07:49 AM (#1809408) Subject: RE: Tom Paxton's lyrics - dies a-bornin' From: Strollin' Johnny But even if you've never heard it before, even if Tom had invented it himself, when you hear it for the first time it sounds so right, and you immediately know exactly what it means. Marvellous bit of wordsmithery! S:0) |
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14 Aug 06 - 09:44 AM (#1809449) Subject: RE: Tom Paxton's lyrics - dies a-bornin' From: GUEST,honestfrankie Hello, Well that was interesting. I've actually found three or four prior uses of the word and have an idea aborning that I may have to use this word in a new song. |
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14 Aug 06 - 10:02 AM (#1809463) Subject: RE: Tom Paxton's lyrics - dies a-bornin' From: GUEST,Russ Tom wrote the song a long time ago. He and his generation (including me) are literate in an old-fashioned sort of way. At that time and in that place, "a-borning" would not have been particularly obscure. I knew what he meant and assumed everybody else singing along knew too. |
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17 Aug 06 - 10:44 PM (#1812757) Subject: RE: Tom Paxton's lyrics - dies a-bornin' From: Jim Dixon Google Book Search gives 1790 hits on "aborning". |
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18 Aug 06 - 01:30 AM (#1812840) Subject: RE: Tom Paxton's lyrics - dies a-bornin' From: Whistler7 Forms like a-bornin' were common usage in older "rustic" forms of English. Lots of traditional songs use them. Lines like "We'll go no more a-roving" and "Three maids a-milking" abound. Even though Tom Paxton's song also has modern references like "Underneath my feet the subway rumbling," the old usage of a-bornin' gives it a nice traditional feel, no? |
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18 Aug 06 - 02:37 AM (#1812854) Subject: RE: Tom Paxton's lyrics - dies a-bornin' From: open mike even if not -- poetic license give tom the permit to mold words to say to us what he will...and bless his heart for saying what he says! |
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18 Aug 06 - 07:04 AM (#1812899) Subject: RE: Tom Paxton's lyrics - dies a-bornin' From: kendall Robert Burns and Shakespere both made up words. Poetic license. |
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18 Aug 06 - 10:50 AM (#1812978) Subject: RE: Tom Paxton's lyrics - dies a-bornin' From: Stilly River Sage Open Mike and Kendall beat me to it. Poetic license is a wonderful thing. SRS |